Mountain Duck mounts remote servers and cloud storage as a disk on your desktop, so SFTP, WebDAV, S3, and consumer cloud accounts behave like local folders. Files open in any application, sync on demand, and can be encrypted client-side through Cryptomator vaults.
Mountain Duck is a desktop utility that presents remote servers and cloud storage as a drive in the file manager, so you can work with distant files using the tools you already have. Connect an account, choose the bookmark, and a volume appears; double-clicking a spreadsheet opens it in the spreadsheet application, and saving writes back to the server. Files that are not needed locally stay in the cloud and are fetched on first access, while anything you mark for offline use is kept on disk. Version information, sync status, and transfer history sit in the menu bar. It removes the separate upload step from everyday work.
Mountain Duck inherits its engine from Cyberduck, an open-source transfer client, which is why the protocol list is unusually broad: FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Azure, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, OpenStack Swift, and WebDAV-based services such as Nextcloud. Bookmarks are shareable between the two applications, and connection profiles define custom endpoints. Cryptomator-compatible vaults add client-side encryption, so files are encrypted before they leave the machine and stay unreadable on the provider's infrastructure. Recent versions integrate with the operating system's own cloud file APIs, which means no driver installation and a familiar status-column experience. Where a browser-mounted volume is the wrong model, a conventional transfer client such as SmartFTP Client still handles one-off publishing jobs cleanly.
What makes Mountain Duck worth its disk-space-free promise is that it removes the decision between local and remote. There is no staging folder to manage and no manual upload after editing, because saving to the mounted volume is the upload. Files you use regularly are cached, so they open instantly even on a slow link, and files you never touch cost nothing in local storage. Background transfers mean a large commit does not block the application you are working in, and status icons make it obvious when something is still in flight. For teams on object storage, that behaviour turns an S3 bucket into something a designer can use without learning a command-line tool. Client-side encryption covers the last objection, since the provider sees only encrypted blobs.
Key capabilities and highlights.
Mountain Duck attaches remote servers and cloud accounts as a volume in the file manager, so files can be opened, renamed, moved, and saved from any application. No bespoke client interface stands between you and the files.
The Cyberduck-based engine covers FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Azure Blob, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, OpenStack Swift, and Nextcloud. Custom connection profiles handle endpoints that are not in the standard list, which matters for self-hosted and regional services.
Any file or folder can be pinned for offline use, which keeps a local copy in step with the server. Everything else is downloaded only when opened, so a large bucket does not consume disk space on the desktop.
Edits upload in the background as soon as a connection exists, and status icons report exactly what is pending, uploading, or complete. Nothing depends on leaving an application open, which removes the risk of an unfinished transfer being forgotten.
Mountain Duck supports Cryptomator-compatible vaults, so file names and contents are encrypted on your machine before reaching the provider. Anyone inspecting the storage sees unreadable data, and the vault remains portable to other Cryptomator clients.
Remote storage is searchable through the system's own index, so a document can be found without browsing folders first. Media files preview before download, and the history panel lists recent transfers on both the local and the remote side.
Bookmarks store credentials and settings for each account, and they are compatible with the Cyberduck client, so existing configurations carry over. Connection profiles can also be distributed to a team for consistent access to the same storage.
A dedicated activity panel in Mountain Duck lists sync operations in progress and allows them to be cancelled individually, while history records what was edited and when. That visibility makes a mounted-but-slow connection far easier to diagnose than a silent failure.
Browse historical releases and previous builds.
Common questions about Mountain Duck.
It mounts remote servers and cloud storage as a disk on your desktop, so remote files behave like files on a local drive. Any application can open and save them, and the client handles the transfer in the background.
No. Files are fetched the first time they are opened and cached afterwards, while everything you have not touched stays in the cloud. You can pin particular files or folders for guaranteed offline access.
The connection engine Mountain Duck uses comes from Cyberduck and covers FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Azure Blob, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, OpenStack Swift, and Nextcloud, among others. Custom profiles can be added for other endpoints.
You can create Cryptomator-compatible vaults inside Mountain Duck, which encrypt file names and contents with your password before the provider receives anything. Data at rest therefore stays unreadable outside your vault.
Yes. Bookmarks are shared between Mountain Duck and Cyberduck, so accounts configured there appear without retyping credentials. Both applications use the same connection profiles and protocol support.
Changes are queued and uploaded when the connection returns, and status icons show what is still pending. For files you need access to regardless of connectivity, marking them offline keeps a local copy available.
Mountain Duck mounts remote servers and cloud storage as a disk on your desktop, so SFTP, WebDAV, S3, and consumer cloud accounts behave like local folders. Files open in any application, sync on demand, and can be encrypted client-side through Cryptomator vaults.
KDE Connect links a phone and a computer into one working environment: files, links, notifications, and the clipboard move between them, and the phone doubles as a trackpad, keyboard, or presentation remote. It is free, open source, and pairs over the local network.
SmartFTP Client is a file transfer application that speaks FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and WebDAV as well as cloud storage services such as Amazon S3 and Google Drive. It adds a threaded transfer queue, folder synchronization, an integrated editor, and checksum verification.
Nextcloud is a self-hosted collaboration platform whose desktop client keeps folders synchronised with your own server. It supports on-demand virtual files, selective sync, multiple accounts, end-to-end encrypted folders, and notifications from apps like Talk.
Proton Drive is end-to-end encrypted cloud storage from Proton, the Swiss company behind Proton Mail. It encrypts files, photos, and documents on your device before upload, then syncs them across Windows, macOS, mobile, and the web.
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